Sunday, October 19, 2008

Well everyone keeps asking how the whole labor process went. I was told by my nurse to not tell people my labor story because women get labor envy. haha. But here it is! So at 9:10 p.m. on Friday night I was laying down watching t.v. when all of a sudden it felt like a balloon popped inside of me. I sat up and thought to myself... I hope my water didn't just break. I got up went to the bathroom but didn't get that whole gush of water thing so I was a little confused. I sent Logan a text telling him I thought it might of broke but I wasn't sure(he was at work) and that I would let him know when I figured it out. I called my mom to see what she thought and right when I called her the "gush" came! Luckily I was in the bathroom when it happened! So then I called Logan and told him it did break but to not come home early since it would still be hours until I needed to go to the hospital. He decided to come home anyway and I am so glad he did! By the time he got home I was having contractions 3 minutes apart. I hadn't finished packing my hospital bag since I thought for sure I would have hours to do that. We grabbed everything and headed to the hospital. We got there at about 10:10 and they got me all checked in. Probably around 10:40 they checked my cervix and I was still just dialated to a 2... which is what I had been for a couple of days. About 30 minutes later I started to really, really feel pain. My contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart and very strong. I was still in triage and told them that I thought I should be checked again. They said that they would check in another 30-45 minutes but I insisted they check because I was having really hard contractions. They checked and were shocked to find that I was now a 5. In thrity minutes I had dialated 3 cm. No wonder I felt like my insides were being ripped to shreds! So then they hurried and called up stairs to tell them I needed to get a room in Labor and Delivery. I was wheeled up and put in a room. This all took about 30 minutes... but seemed like hours!I was really really in pain now! My L&D nurse told me she would check me in 40 mins. I waited a while and told her I wanted to be checked so she did and of course I was an 8. She called my dr. and told her that she needed to come right away and then called the anesthesiologist to come. He showed up a couple of minutes later and was outside my room when he was called to an emergency c-section! I about died... I felt like they were trying to torture me. The next little while before he came back seemed so long! Every contraction was so hard and so close together. I felt like there were no breaks inbetween contractions to relax a little. I couldn't keep my eyes open and Logan says I was just not the same person and had checked out. I also started to get worried that I was to far along for them to give me one. Luckily when he came back he said he still would. It was hard staying still while he put it with all the contractions going on but it was worth it! It made the whole last part of the labor enjoyable for me, Logan, and the nurse. The epidural was a great one, I could still feel a little pain and pressure and could feel my contractions and had full movement of my legs. After a little while I told the nurse that I felt alot of pressure like the baby was right there. She checked and of course she was really low and I was fully dialated but I had to hold off and wait for the my doctor to show up. I pushed a couple of times with the nurse and got to the point where the head was visable. The doctor showed up and I told her I didn't want an episiotomy. I pushed about twenty times and she told me that I needed a small cut. Because my labor went so fast my birth canal and etc hadn't had time to stretch out. She told me that I could have had the baby already and that if she even made a really small cut the baby would come out right away. I gave her the ok and Afton came out on the next push!I forgot to mention that the whole time I was pushing I felt really sick. Right after I was done I threw up five times in a row and I mean projectile vomit. Logan says that I got some on the doctor! Oops. I felt great after that. So from start to finish my labor took a little over 4 hours and I pushed about 20 minutes! I was sad that my mom missed it. She left right away when my water broke but since it's a 5 hour drive from Fresno, she got there an hour after Afton was born. :( But she claims she would rather miss it and for me to have a quick labor than to have made it and for my labor to have taken a long time. I was also sad that Afton was early because she was small. Had she gone full term she would have been in the upper 7lbs but the doctor told me that with how fast my labor went I would of had to have a c-section because I my body didn't have time to stretch out and make room for her to come out. There is no way I could have pushed out an upper 7lb baby but at 6lbs 1 oz she was small enough for me to do it on my own. So there it is... my labor story. There are lots of pictures!

Finally have the epidural and I am really happy now! :)

Telling them I feel like I'm going to throw up!

Mom arriving an hour after Afton was born

Holding the new baby. We actually didn't name her until right before we were about to leave. It was so hard to pick one!

Both of us finally getting some sleep!

Just can't hold her enough

Afton was awake alot the first day

Chubby Cheeks!

Getting her hearing checked

Because she had jaundice they had us feed her formula with the colostrum to try and flush it all out. Formula made her spit up more than normal.

Logan was teasing my mom in this picture. He took one picture of us and Aftons eyes were open but my moms were closed so he was making fun of the fact that the baby could keep her eyes open but grandma couldn't. ;)

My brother John and the baby

Me and Afton

My other brother Mike and the baby. Two of my brothers, my sister, and my dad came down Sunday morning to meet Afton.

Grandpa and Afton

We had alot of help changing diapers those first couple of days!

Afton had jaundice so she had to lay on the billi-bed for 24 hours. We could only take her off for 30 minutes every three hours. It was hard to have a new baby and not be able to hold her, especially when she was crying.

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comments:

You are SOO blessed. We got together with my parents, Keri, and Kris' family and we all talked about how baby Afton is so pretty. She doesn't look like every other new born. You all look glorious. What a cute little fam. You got skinny really fast too! You're going to be great parents!! I'm so proud of you guys. I hope we can come down to see you all soon.

wow I loved reading your experience with your labor. I had an amazing experience as well, Trent came really fast too. Aren't epidurals wonderful? lol...I'm so glad everything turned out great for you guys, she's beautiful and you look great!

I am jealous! But not of the painful labor. I was only in pain for an hour & a half before I got my epidural...but 20 minutes of pushing?! NO FAIR! I pushed for 2 hours & was SO close to having a C-Section...& Reagan was only 7 pounds, 4 ounces! I'm glad everything went well & you had a good experience. Afton is adorable!!

Sounds like everything went well. Good this Logan came home when he did. Glad little Afton is here and hopefully you'll be able to get some sleep now that you're home. How is life for the new mommy? I bet your Mom's sad that she's far away right now.

My labor only lasted four hours as well! I dialated from a 2 to a 10 in less than an hour! They couldn't believe it! I'm glad you and Afton are both home and doing well! I'm sorry you had horrible night nurses. That just makes it misserable, I had a couple HORRIBLE nurses as well, but that's a whole other story! I can't wait to meet her! I hope we get to soon!

hey my water broke with my first one too! They say that is unusual with your first, and she came 3 and a half weeks early! were'nt you that early? My labor was more like 12 hours! but I only pushed for 2 minutes!! Anyways she is so cute! and you look great!